Small is beautiful – and this amazing little wedding took place at Tom Ham’s Lighthouse on Harbor Island in San Diego. After getting ready at the Hilton I walked to the wedding venue (Loved that part!!) to wait for the bride. Tom Ham’s has gone through some significant renovations in the past year and I absolutely loved the new layout with bright interior rooms and a new ceremony site out front. As for the wedding itself – rarely have I seen more smiles at ANY event before… I love these guys!!
I’m a huge fan of variety in weddings – so when I was told of a Laos ceremony in the morning followed by a more “western” ceremony in the afternoon I was very excited. Laos is a small country sitting between Thailand and Vietnam, and from what I understand there are a lot of similarities between traditional Thai weddings and traditional Lao weddings. This was my first Lao wedding so I did not have a basis for comparison, but it was full of fascinating traditions (including a bribe to the parents of the bride…) and it had an absolutely elegant traditional wardrobe and styling. I decided that this wedding would be a really cool set of pictures to put in a slideshow so here it is.
http://sdphotostudio.smugmug.com/Weddings/2013/Ty-and-Mark-Video/30752067_4ZbZRh#!i=2662884199&k=JdGhSM2&lb=1&s=A
The afternoon ceremony took place at Island Palms in San Diego
To elope, most literally, merely means to run away and to not come back to the point of origination. Some people think that elopements are not romantic and not special – but I would have to strongly disagree with that opinion. This incredibly romantic wedding on the shores of La Jolla had only one witness (me) and the whole experience was pure joy.
The advantage of this being an elopement is that we were not tied to plans or a timetable. Being the 4th of July we were all worried about getting in and around La Jolla so I arrived an hour and a half early, which by coincidence was EXACTLY when the happy couple arrived. Rather than get married first do pictures second, we decided to get started on the pictures right away. And as we were walking and shooting (and getting hotter-and-hotter) somebody came up with the brilliant idea of jumping in the ocean right after the wedding.
The ceremony was performed by Rev Christopher Tuttle from http://www.elopetosandiego.com/
This desert wedding was certainly one to remember – and apparently the folks over at Exquisite Weddings Magazine thought it was pretty cool too. Its always an honor to have my images reproduced on such an exclusive wedding blog
I have a long history of covering Mountain Bike events… but I have not had a lot of opportunity to photograph road racing. So when I was offered the chance to cover The Tour L’Etape in Escondido this year I was thrilled. The route took the riders up Mt Palomar from Escondido so it was a formidable climb, but it was a beautiful day and the roads were surprisingly quiet.
I decided that since I was not offered an official support vehicle (motorcycle) this year – I really needed to maximize my opportunity to get some photos when I had the chance. I was able to set up in 2 locations during the race (I beat the racers to the top of the mountain after shooting my first location) so I decided to use 2 cameras simultaneously in both locations so I could get 4 completely unique set of images. At both locations I used a telephoto lens to catch the riders at a distance, and then I had a remotely triggered camera to catch a wide-angle shot as they came past me.
If you are looking to purchase photos of yourself from this race – please visit Scott Christopher Stolarz Photography
I have not had a chance to go through all her pictures yet – but I could not resist getting a few of these posted right away. She picked a beautiful venue to get messy with her first birthday cake!!
The flowers behind my place are in full bloom right now – so I am thrilled to have a few photo sessions lined up to take advantage. These nasturtiums grow under a beautiful canopy of mulberries creating a magical lighting scenario for photography. I was lucky enough to photograph Melissa and her adorable dogs once before… and they behaved very well for me once again today.
I almost always get to do some location scouting – even if it is just a google search for other photographs or a street view. But heading into this engagement photo session I was flying completely blind. We were meeting in the middle of an upscale neighborhood in La Jolla near a small trail that accessed the ocean (at low tide). The funny thing about last Saturday is that the tide was high and so was the surf. We ended up on just a small cliff about 30 feet above the water, and with the high surf I still managed to got soaked in the first 10 minutes of being on location. Still, the conditions were great for taking pictures and these guys were super photogenic. And not only did the beach location work out well… I may have discovered my favorite stair case in San Diego only about 200 yards from our beach trail.
I first visited the historic Ranch House at Pensasquitos 4 years ago. And although I brought my camera and got some fun photos… I had never been back with PEOPLE to take pictures. So I was stoked when Kristine suggested this location for their engagement pictures.
When Fallyn first called me to tell me she wanted me to be her wedding photographer… and that the wedding was “out in the desert” I knew I was in for a treat. Of course – what inspired me to leave my SUV at home in favor of the hybrid sedan is another matter all together (but I still managed to show up early). This wedding fulfilled all expectations with an absolutely stunning location and a beautiful wedding with good friends and family. Not even the 95 degree heat could put a damper on this spectacular celebration.
